Banana Republics - Steve Goodman

Down to the banana republics

Down to the tropical sun

Come the expatriated Americans

Expecting to have some fun

Some of them come for the sailing

Drawn by the lure of the sea

To cure the spirit that’s ailing

From living in the land of the free

Some of them are running from lovers

Leaving no forward address

Some of them are running marijuana

Some are running from the IRS

And late at night you will see them

In the cheap hotels and bars

Hustling the senoritas

As they dance beneath the stars

Spending the renegade pesos

On a bottle of rum and a lime

Singing «Give me some words I can dance to

And a melody that rhymes»

Once you learn the native customs

And a word of Spanish or two

Then you know you can’t trust them

Because they know they can’t trust you

Down in banana republics

It is not always as warm as it seems

When none of the natives are buying

Any second-hand American dreams

Expatriated Americans are feeling so all alone

Telling themselves the same lies

That they told themselves at home

And late at night you will see them

In the cheap hotels and bars

Hustling the senoritas

As they dance beneath the stars

Spending the renegade pesos

On a bottle of rum and a lime

Singing «Give me some words I can dance to

And a melody that rhymes»

Down to the banana republics

Down to the tropical sun

Come the expatriated Americans

Expecting to have some fun